Victor Brauner

Brauner travelled throughout Romania visiting Fălticeni and Balchik. During this time he experimented with Dadaism, Abstractionism, and Expressionism. On 26 September 1924, he had his first one-man exhibition, displaying paintings in an Expressionist style. The same year he co-founded the Dadaist-Constructivist review 75 HP with poet Ilarie Voronca, where he published a number of picto-poems, combinations of writing and images. It was in this magazine that he published the manifesto The Pictopoetry and the article The Surrationalism.
Victor Brauner was also associated with the Dadaist review UNU. It published reproductions of several of his artworks. In 1925 the artist taught at the Constructivist arts workshop Integral. While his works later came to be more closely connected with Surrealism, he maintained his ties to Dadaism through his involvement with these publications. Brauner also used the Dadaist's readymades in some of his artworks, including Wolf-Table (1939-1947), and the Dadaist techniques of collage and assemblage.
In 1925 he undertook his first journey to Paris. There he lived on Moulin Vert Street in the same building with Alberto Giacometti, a Swiss sculptor, painter, and printmaker, and Yves Tanguy, a French Surrealist painter, who introduced Brauner to the Surrealists. It was also in this city, that Victor Brauner befriended Constantin Brancusi, a Romanian sculptor, painter, and photographer, who taught him the methods of art photography. Besides, he made friends with Romanian poets Gellu Naum and Benjamin Fondane, as well as artists Robert and Sonia Delaunay, Marcel Duchamp, Marc Chagall, Jacques Hérold, and Man Ray.
Brauner settled in Paris more permanently in 1930. In 1931 he created one of his most famous paintings, Self-Portrait with Plucked Eye. This work became prophetic, as, on August 28, 1938, Victor Brauner lost his left eye when a violent argument broke out between Spanish Surrealist painters Oscar Domínguez and Esteban Francés. He attempted to defend Francés but was hit by a glass thrown by Domínguez.
Victor Brauner's first personal Paris show took place at the Galerie Pierre in 1934. It was not well-received and Brauner decided to return to Bucharest in 1935. During this period he ceased painting and instead created a number of caricatures and illustrations, such as the Anatomy of Desire series (1935-1936). In 1938 he moved back to Paris.
When the Second World War broke out, he was forced to flee to Southern France. He first lived with writer Robert Rius in Perpignan, then went to Cant-Blame, in the Eastern Pyrenees, and finally resided in Saint Feliu d'Amont. Throughout this period he managed to stay in touch with other Surrealists in Marseilles. In 1941 he joined them, having been given official permission to settle there. Around this time, he also tried, unsuccessfully, to receive a visa to go to the United States.
In the winter of 1940-1941, the Surrealists produced a number of collective artworks, one of the most prominent were Tarot. To create it, each contributor selected the names of two personalities to represent on their cards. Victor Brauner chose the philosopher Hegel and the famous medium Helen Smith, depicting both as hybrid human-animal forms. Brauner really enjoyed these sorts of playful collaborative activities in which the Surrealists engaged.
By the end of the war, Brauner had moved to Switzerland trying to escape the increasing Nazi persecution of Romanians. Because of his constant resettlements, he had to reduce the size of his canvases, so that he could easily put them into his luggage if he needed to travel suddenly. While in Switzerland, Brauner became interested in M. A. Sèchehaye's writings on Schizophrenia. They influenced his later paintings.
In 1945 Victor Brauner returned to Paris where his work was included in the International Exhibition of Surrealism at the Galerie Maeght in 1947. However, Brauner was discarded from the Surrealists by Breton in 1948 after he refused to support the expulsion of prominent member Roberto Matta. From this point onwards, he shifted away from Surrealism-proper and started to work more with drawing on paper, and thin oil paint on boards, creating more stylized, and more abstracted pieces.
He moved into a studio in Montmartre at 72 Rue Lepic in 1959. In 1961, he went to Italy, and then settled in Varengeville in Normandy. The same year New York City's Bodley Gallery organized a solo exhibition of his work. In 1965 the artist created an ensemble of object-paintings full of inventiveness and vivacity, grouped under the titles Mythologie and Fêtes des mères. In 1966 he was offered to represent France at the Venice Biennale. In his later years he suffered from a prolonged illness.

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Victor Brauner was a French-Romanian sculptor and artist. In his art pieces, he mixed Expressionist and Surrealist styles.

Background

Brauner was born in Piatra Neamt, Romania, on June 15, 1903. He was the son of a Jewish timber manufacturer who settled in Vienna with his family for several years. He was the third of six children in the family.

Education

Initially, Victor Brauner attended elementary school. When his family moved back from Vienna to Romania in 1914, he continued his education at the Lutheran school in Brăila. He was particularly interested in zoology during that period. Brauner studied at the National School of Fine Arts in Bucharest from 1916 to 1918.

Later Brauner studied at the Horia Igiroşanu private school of painting. He painted landscapes in the style of Paul Cézanne. The artist was expelled from the school for "misbehavior and anti-conformist painting."

Career

Brauner travelled throughout Romania visiting Fălticeni and Balchik. During this time he experimented with Dadaism, Abstractionism, and Expressionism. On 26 September 1924, he had his first one-man exhibition, displaying paintings in an Expressionist style. The same year he co-founded the Dadaist-Constructivist review 75 HP with poet Ilarie Voronca, where he published a number of picto-poems, combinations of writing and images. It was in this magazine that he published the manifesto The Pictopoetry and the article The Surrationalism.

Victor Brauner was also associated with the Dadaist review UNU. It published reproductions of several of his artworks. In 1925 the artist taught at the Constructivist arts workshop Integral. While his works later came to be more closely connected with Surrealism, he maintained his ties to Dadaism through his involvement with these publications. Brauner also used the Dadaist's readymades in some of his artworks, including Wolf-Table (1939-1947), and the Dadaist techniques of collage and assemblage.

In 1925 he undertook his first journey to Paris. There he lived on Moulin Vert Street in the same building with Alberto Giacometti, a Swiss sculptor, painter, and printmaker, and Yves Tanguy, a French Surrealist painter, who introduced Brauner to the Surrealists. It was also in this city, that Victor Brauner befriended Constantin Brancusi, a Romanian sculptor, painter, and photographer, who taught him the methods of art photography. Besides, he made friends with Romanian poets Gellu Naum and Benjamin Fondane, as well as artists Robert and Sonia Delaunay, Marcel Duchamp, Marc Chagall, Jacques Hérold, and Man Ray.

Brauner settled in Paris more permanently in 1930. In 1931 he created one of his most famous paintings, Self-Portrait with Plucked Eye. This work became prophetic, as, on August 28, 1938, Victor Brauner lost his left eye when a violent argument broke out between Spanish Surrealist painters Oscar Domínguez and Esteban Francés. He attempted to defend Francés but was hit by a glass thrown by Domínguez.

Victor Brauner's first personal Paris show took place at the Galerie Pierre in 1934. It was not well-received and Brauner decided to return to Bucharest in 1935. During this period he ceased painting and instead created a number of caricatures and illustrations, such as the Anatomy of Desire series (1935-1936). In 1938 he moved back to Paris.

When the Second World War broke out, he was forced to flee to Southern France. He first lived with writer Robert Rius in Perpignan, then went to Cant-Blame, in the Eastern Pyrenees, and finally resided in Saint Feliu d'Amont. Throughout this period he managed to stay in touch with other Surrealists in Marseilles. In 1941 he joined them, having been given official permission to settle there. Around this time, he also tried, unsuccessfully, to receive a visa to go to the United States.

In the winter of 1940-1941, the Surrealists produced a number of collective artworks, one of the most prominent were Tarot. To create it, each contributor selected the names of two personalities to represent on their cards. Victor Brauner chose the philosopher Hegel and the famous medium Helen Smith, depicting both as hybrid human-animal forms. Brauner really enjoyed these sorts of playful collaborative activities in which the Surrealists engaged.

By the end of the war, Brauner had moved to Switzerland trying to escape the increasing Nazi persecution of Romanians. Because of his constant resettlements, he had to reduce the size of his canvases, so that he could easily put them into his luggage if he needed to travel suddenly. While in Switzerland, Brauner became interested in M. A. Sèchehaye's writings on Schizophrenia. They influenced his later paintings.

In 1945 Victor Brauner returned to Paris where his work was included in the International Exhibition of Surrealism at the Galerie Maeght in 1947. However, Brauner was discarded from the Surrealists by Breton in 1948 after he refused to support the expulsion of prominent member Roberto Matta. From this point onwards, he shifted away from Surrealism-proper and started to work more with drawing on paper, and thin oil paint on boards, creating more stylized, and more abstracted pieces.

He moved into a studio in Montmartre at 72 Rue Lepic in 1959. In 1961, he went to Italy, and then settled in Varengeville in Normandy. The same year New York City's Bodley Gallery organized a solo exhibition of his work. In 1965 the artist created an ensemble of object-paintings full of inventiveness and vivacity, grouped under the titles Mythologie and Fêtes des mères. In 1966 he was offered to represent France at the Venice Biennale. In his later years he suffered from a prolonged illness.

Achievements

Victor Brauner helped to push forward Surrealist art. He was one of the most important members of the Romanian avant-garde. To honour Brauner’s 100th anniversary, an eclectic show opened also in Bucharest. This impressive exhibit later travelled to England.

References

Victor Brauner: Surrealist Hieroglyphs
This book demonstrates how Brauner's work differs from that of his famous Surrealist counterparts, de Chirico, Ernst, and Tanguy for example, extending our idea of Surrealism itself through his use of poetry, both direct and analogical, his highly narrative depictions of personal and social relations, and his extraordinarily colorful palette.